When Did They Start Naming Hurricanes?

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Quick Answer

On July 26, 1825, Hurricane Santa Ana hit Puerto Rico. The storm was so named because it happened on this particular saint’s day. This naming system continued until 1953 when the National Hurricane Center adopted female names from the new International Phonetic Alphabet.

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The custom of naming hurricanes exclusively after women concluded in 1978, when men's names were incorporated into the list of Eastern North Pacific storms. In 1979, both male and female names were utilized for hurricanes of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

The World Meteorological Organization's Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee chooses the names for the Atlantic Basin and central and eastern Pacific storms.